


Sweet Dreams

by Anonymous



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29438340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Over the long months from October to Summer, Will's slowly pushed to his breaking point. He wants El, but he knows he can't have her...Not with Mike in his way.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Eleven | Jane Hopper
Comments: 67
Kudos: 13
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

Karma is a funny thing. It exists, without a doubt, but it’s not as simple as ‘do good things, get rewarded,’ karma is a lot more fickle than anyone can know. You could be the kindest, most caring, gentlest person in the world, and karma would kick you around, kill your dog, and burn down your house in a fire for no good reason.

It was as such with Will Byers. His entire life, he’d done nothing wrong. Never stole, never cheated, the only lies he’d told were little white ones, he was immaculate, so to speak. Yet, it was him who got snatched away by the Demogorgon, possessed by the Mind Flayer, and so on.

Just when it was starting to look up, when the threat was vanquished and he finally got to meet the girl Mike so desperately missed, it was all shattered yet again. Will found himself developing troubling feelings, not when El was focused on Mike and didn’t even register his existence beyond short hellos.

She was the one responsible for all of it, yes, but she was also the one to fix it, to save him, save _all_ of them time and time again. Will owed her, he felt grateful to her…

One of these days, he just wanted things to go his way. He visited El sometimes, with the others, if Mike wasn’t there already acting like he owned her or whatever. She was nice, she was sweet, if a bit naïve, and she enjoyed the others’ company…

And the entire time, she was entirely focused on Mike.

At first, Will was sad El wouldn’t ever notice him. Then exasperated, when she and Mike got all lovey-dovey around each other. Then, he got furious.

Mike’s family had money, Mike had the girl, Mike was self-professed leader of the group… what did _he_ have that Will didn’t? What made _Mike_ deserving of any of it, instead of him?

It thoroughly pissed him off. And every time Mike blew him or the others off to go be with El, it made Will’s anger bubble more, knowing that El was making out with Mike, and none of that attention was ever going to be focused on Will. And every time Will tried to intervene, to stamp out his anger, to spend time with Mike and try to remember why they were friends at all, Mike kept blowing him off… as was the story over the entire summer.

And the thing about anger… it’s not logical. When you’re angry, you don’t think in terms of things that make logical sense, only emotional sense. And this wasn’t just anger, it was mad, almost insane, desperate fury.

Will Byers had left the building. All that was there for the moment was a fractured boy who never got the help he needed, driven by sheer, uncontrollable rage.

And he makes a plan. It’ll be easy, Will thinks to himself…

He’s killed before. Under the control of something else, sure, but it was still him…

He’s killed dozens of people, maybe hundreds. What’s one more?

The plan is simple. He can get gloves out of a box of his mom’s hair dye, and she’ll just assume that the box was mispacked. Jon’s still working nights against what Joyce wants, and Joyce herself obviously works the day shifts.

He then finds a glass wine bottle out of the trash in town. Then, it’s a simple matter of finding a place to strike.

No one’s around to see, no fingerprints are going to be left on the bottle, and it’s going to be all too easy to lure Mike out.

As the two are walking, Will concealing the bottle on the inside of his jacket, as he keeps his gloved hands in his pockets, the rational part of himself tells him to stop, to think about what he’s doing.

He considers it briefly, and feels the pull away, but then Mike starts talking about El, about canceling the plans with the others so he can go spend time with her, and Will sees _Red._

The best part is that Mike didn’t scream as he went down. Part of the bottle is stained with blood, but it’s not enough to be a problem.

Will slipped the bottle back into his jacket carefully, so as to make sure if any blood _does_ rub off, it does so on the inside of the pocket, and not in a place where the cops could easily see it, if they connect him to it.

Will took a look around, and sighed, as he grabbed Mike around the shoulders, beginning to drag him. It’s far from where they’re supposed to be, and it’d be easier to drag him by the ankles, but Will’s seen movies. He knows not to leave a blood trail.

Everything’s going well, so far.

\----------

When he makes it to the quarry, Mike’s still out, not dead… yet. A moment of clarity fights for Will’s attention.

He could stop. Mike could wake up and Will could say he just collapsed for no reason and hit his head.

…The other part says it’s too late for that now. He’s already dragged Mike out to the quarry, if he wakes up now, there’s gonna be _questions_. And how do you explain to someone you were planning to murder them?

He moves Mike over to the edge, and takes a deep, sobering breath. He can see Mike start to awaken again, confused, but he doesn’t allow him any time before he pushes with his foot, and Mike goes plunging into the water below.

The splash sounds like a gunshot, thundering and angry, but all Will can do is stand and stare. He’s pretty sure Mike didn’t see him, but he has to make sure Mike’s _dead_ before leaving the scene.

Ten minutes pass without any disturbance in the water.

He doesn’t even smile as he turns and leaves.

\----------

It’s quite miraculous, how everything went off without a hitch. The coroners found the trauma wound on the back of his head, but thanks to the blood splatter on the rock wall that Mike caused when he slammed into it on the way down, they just assume it’s from that.

Impact trauma and drowning. That’s what they list the cause as. There’s not even any _suspects,_ they explain it away as Mike being his usual self, cutting through the woods near the quarry to sneak over to Hopper’s, only for it to all go wrong.

While things simmer down, Will hides the bottle in one of his pillows, the stuffing and pillowcase the perfect thing to conceal it. The blood is already dry, so he doesn’t have to worry about that. He also took great care in making sure none of the blood got on the gloves, just in case, so he can just toss those in the regular trash.

When his mother and brother are gone, he takes the bottle and scrubs the dried blood off. Not inside, but out back. Funny how their house’s relative isolation worked out this time.

Once that’s gone, and there’s no cause to assume that it’s anything other than just a wine bottle, he dumps that in the trash as well. If anybody _does_ find it, which is not likely unless somebody starts snooping in the trash, there’s nothing to give it away as a potential murder weapon, just a small fracture near the bottom that one would assume came from throwing it away perhaps a bit too carelessly.

With everything out of sight, out of mind, and himself free of suspicion, Will sat on his bed, and fell asleep without a problem.

He’s killed his best friend, and he doesn’t even care.

\------------

When the funeral rolls around, it’s a solemn affair. Everyone in their friends group is there, even El, who probably shouldn’t even be out of the house. There’s a pastor droning on, making it about God instead of Mike, and Will can barely resist the urge to fall asleep.

He looks drained, a bunch of sleepless nights compounded intentionally to make him look tired, and it works.

As they lower the casket into the ground, El bursts into uncontrollable, quiet tears, and Will walks over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright…” He muttered to her. “I’m here, if you need me.”

El looks to him, and her face twists in anguish, as she hugs him, the only person other than Hopper and Joyce to make the offer.

As they start piling the dirt on, El can’t look, and Will hides his face in her shoulder. The others mistake it as him starting to cry as well, but it’s not.

It’s a satisfied smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Will doesn’t regret what he did, only that he had to do it. He wished there were better ways, honestly, but Mike was a stubborn, pig-headed idiot who didn’t listen to anyone or anything. Will blamed Karen for that, in truth. Hard for someone to be self-aware when they lived in their own little bubble as the middle child in a household where none of them had to worry about getting enough to eat.

Will counts himself as much more self aware than that. Sure, he’s done terrible, evil things, but he knows it. Accepted it. He doesn’t know what that makes him, but he does know he’s not insane.

Insane people, sociopaths, psychopaths, they all don’t know what they do is wrong. Will does know. That means he’s sound, in theory.

In theory… It’s hard to reconcile killing someone to steal their girlfriend as the act of a stable individual. But again, that loops back on itself. He knows he’s not stable, so therefore, he is.

Besides, it’s not like he goes around axe-murdering and dumping the bodies. It was a one-time thing, and after that, everything murderous within him evaporates away.

Mike’s still dead, sure, but… well, things are looking up.

The new mall is open, and El is throwing herself into anything she can to forget about Mike. An unhealthy coping mechanism, yes, but it’s not like Will can criticize that.

So, he helps. It’s only mildly self-serving, he’d help her anyway even _if_ he wasn’t the one to kill her boyfriend.

Whatever El wants to do, be that go to the new mall, movies, just out of the house, whatever, Will acquiesces. He’s not Mike, he won’t keep her locked away while telling her it’s for her own safety.

Hopper doesn’t like it, the big grouch he is, but it’s not like he can _stop_ them. So that’s what they do. Over the course of the summer, all the way up to the fourth, when the Mind Flayer rears its ugly head again, and they kick its ass for the second time.

Only… El’s lost her powers. Lost Hopper. Will does feel bad about that one. It’s not his fault, and it’s clear that losing those two, coupled with losing Mike, it’s… well, it’s heavy.

Still, he helps. Because it’s the right thing to do. Odd thing, having a moral compass after killing somebody for no certifiable reason. Will doesn’t think he’s evil, he just… made a choice that while right for him wasn’t right for others.

Oh well, no use thinking about it now. Not much he can do, other than little things. Helping El around while her ankle’s still healing, smoothing the transition after the move from Hopper’s place into theirs, and so on.

Will’s glad Mike’s not there for that. Knowing him, he’d get resistant for not having any modicum of control over the situation.

The important thing is making sure El heals, not ensuring his own happiness.

So that’s what he does. Prioritizes El. Will’s own desire can wait. He has all the time in the world to make his move, better make sure El’s actually, you know, _over_ Mike before he tries to slide in.

“Will?” She tells him one day when he’s home from school and it’s just her and him. “Thanks.” She offers, throwing her arms around him. “For being a good friend.”

Will smiles. “You’re very welcome.”

He has all the time in the world.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is just... short trash, but I got the idea, so...

El smiled giddily as she looked to the people sitting around her. "Let's play a game... two truths and a lie!" 

"Oh, God..." Max mumbled, placing her face in her hand.

"Sure," Will shrugged. "I'm down."

"Alright then, you can go first." El delegated, practically bouncing on the bed.

"Okay, my hair is brown, my eyes are blue, and back when we were kids, I killed Mike and dumped his body so I could steal you."

El spluttered, an ugly laugh and humor that came from years upon years of time to move on. "You had the right idea, but you've gotta make it more challeng-"

"El," Max cut her off. "His eyes are brown too."

El blinked, before her jaw began to slowly drop. "You... did... **_WHAT!?"_**

* * *

"AUGH, STOP!" Will begged, curled up on his side as El repeatedly and vigorously beat him with a bedpost.

"Look man," Max stood with her arms crossed. "You brought this on yourself."

"I KNOW I DID, BUT THAT'S NO REASON FOR ME TO SUFFER!"


	4. Chapter 4

“You… _killed_ him?” El gritted out through her teeth, sitting across from Will, barely, _just barely,_ managing to keep from beating him again with the torn-off bedpost.

Will, his face beaten, bruised, and bloodied to such an extent that it looked like someone had painted his face, nodded slowly, staying silent as he held an ice pack to the side of it.

Max is still there, and all she can do is recoil in horror.

“What… why… **_WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?”_** El bellowed, having to be held back by Max. She wasn’t holding any pleasant will towards Will either, but right now, the last thing they needed was for him to be beaten beyond the capacity to talk to them. “Why!?” She screamed, now past the point of anger, into tears. “Why…”

Will looked to the side, staring blankly into space. “I dunno. Maybe it was still a small bit of the Mind Flayer left behind, maybe it was me… But every time I looked at him I felt _furious_.” He turned back to face them. “If it’s any help… he didn’t feel anything.”

“You…” Max swallowed, trying to keep the contents of her stomach in. “You pushed him off a _quarry!”_

“No,” Will tilted his head, “I knocked him out first.”

“So it was premeditated!?” Max hissed.

Will looked to her. “I don’t know why you’re so mad. It’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”

“What!?” El yelped, looking between them. “Max, what’s he talking about!?”

“I-I don’t-“ Max stammered.

“Oh, yes she does.” Will looked to El. “She killed Neil. Took an axe to his head while blasting Huey Lewis then dumped the body in the old lab.”

El looked to Max, clamping her hands over her mouth in shock.

“Th-That was different!” Max pointed. “He was about to beat the shit out of me!”

Will shrugged. “We had our reasons. Yours were just different than mine.”

“But… why, Will?” El asked, her eyes tearing up. “Why do it? And… why tell me now?”

“…it’s been fifteen years.” Will answered her second question first. “I figured you could handle it. As for why… I don’t know. There’re certainly other reasons to kill somebody. I couldn’t tell you why.”

“I…” El shot to her feet, breathing heavily. “I need some air.” She said, before scrambling outside.

“…Do you think she’s gonna call the cops?” Max asked, looking to Will.

“Probably not.” Will rubbed a bit of blood away from his nose. “I hope not. She’s killed people too. …hell, I don’t know why she’s in such a fuss. She’s killed a lot more people than you and I have.”

“Yeah, but not her **_boyfriend_**.” Max growled.

“Well, maybe it was the best thing for all of us.”

“Except Mike,” Max hissed, “Cause, you know, he’s _dead_.”

“Has been for the past fifteen years, don’t know why it’s so startling now.” Will retorted. “…I still see him, sometimes. Standing there… staring. I think he’s haunting me.”

“Good!” Max shot back, getting up and going to leave.

“Don’t act like you aren’t entirely unhappy with it.” Will accused, causing her to freeze. “I know how you felt about him.” He looked outside through the window. El was sitting on the bench, looking blank, distant. If anything, it seemed she was more anguished at the idea Will had hid it from her for so long than the idea that he killed Mike.

Fair enough… she was in too deep now. Fifteen years don’t just go away because of one secret. Well, maybe, but it depended on the secret. And El had already come to terms with Mike’s murder.

The only thing left to do now was to go up from there.

“Go and talk to her.” Will advised Max gently. “She needs her friend, not… the guy who killed her ex-boyfriend.

“Right.” Max growled back at him.

“Oh, and don’t worry…” Will looked at her expressionless. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“My-“

“Of course.” Will answered. “Neil Hargrove wasn’t anyone who was gonna be missed, but… killing is still a federal offense.”

“I can plead self-defense, that’s more than _you_.”

“Maybe at the start.” Will granted. “But… how long’s it been? Thirteen years? Quite an awful amount of time. In fact, I’d say it’s so long that no one would believe you if you tried to say it was ‘self-defense.’ After all, why would anybody wait so long unless it was anything _other_ than deliberate murder.”

“…You’re a goddamn psychopath.” Max shook, glaring at him.

Will smiled. “Takes one to know one. Don’t worry… us psychopaths have to stick together.”

Max’s face twisted with rage as she turned to leave, and Will laid back, kicking his feet up.

It’d be a tense few weeks, but once El realized she really didn’t have any cause to be fearful, everything would go back to normal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Will saw a flash of movement, as well as the ethereal visage of Mike, his skin grey and eyes empty, standing there.

And Will just smiled and waved at him.


End file.
